In his first headlining appearance in the Octagon, the Brazilian
emphatically dispatched main event veteran Benson
Henderson, winning via knockout 2:31 into their
UFC Fight Night lightweight feature at the BOK Center in Tulsa,
Okla., on Saturday night.

“I’m always the underdog,” dos Anjos said. “I think tonight I
proved [myself] to everyone. Benson Henderson is a great champion,
and I respect him a lot. Now is my time.”

At no point did dos Anjos appear in over his head against the
former 155-pound king. The Kings MMA standout landed effective
counter punches and punished “Smooth” with hard kicks to the body
throughout the abbreviated contest. Henderson had his moments,
including a push kick that momentarily knocked dos Anjos off his
feet. However, it was the underdog who authored the bout’s defining
sequence.

Dos Anjos (21-8, 10-6 UFC) put Henderson on his heels with a
straight left, then rocked the MMA Lab stalwart with a flying knee.
Henderson responded by shooting for a takedown, which was easily
stuffed. Upon returning to his feet, a left hook from dos Anjos
immediately took Henderson’s legs out from under him. That was
enough to bring John McCarthy into the picture, as he halted the
bout before dos Anjos could do any further damage.

“I was training for everything,” dos Anjos said. “I worked a lot on
my striking, and I knew my striking was better than [his]. The plan
was be patient for the first round, but throw hard -- that’s what I
did.”

Moments after the fight’s conclusion, Henderson (22-3, 9-2 UFC)
returned to his feet in disbelief, apparently unhappy with the
stoppage.

“I thought I was clear headed,” he said. “It is what it is. You
have the ups and downs. You’ve got to take the good with the
bad.”

Dos Anjos now has 11 UFC victories at lightweight, tying him
Donald
Cerrone and Melvin
Guillard for third most in lightweight history. He was won six
of his last seven in the Octagon overall, with the lone defeat
coming at the hands of Khabib
Nurmagomedov at UFC on Fox 11 in April.

Mein Rocks Pyle, Earns 19th First-Round Finish

Considering the events of the past two days, it would have been
understandable if Jordan Mein
had been distracted in his co-main event showdown with Mike Pyle.
Instead, “Young Gun” demonstrated laser-like focus in dispatching
the veteran via technical knockout 72 seconds into their
welterweight tilt.

“I feel great, and I wanted a knockout because I wanted to stay in
this co-main and main event spot, because that’s where I belong,”
Mein said.

On Friday, Mein’s father, Lee Mein was
arrested on a charge of sexual battery. The UFC subsequently
issued a statement banning the elder Mein, who usually corners his
son, from the BOK Center on Saturday night. If such news affected
the younger Mein, it didn’t show in the Octagon.

After avoiding a couple Pyle (26-10-1, 9-5 UFC) takedown tries,
Mein (29-9, 3-1 UFC) faked a shot of his own and followed with a
pair of devastating left hooks. The first connected primarily with
the forearm, but the second offering was clean -- and it
immediately sent the 38-year-old Syndicate MMA representative
tumbling to the canvas. From there, Mein landed approximately five
to six left hands before the bout was halted by referee Dan
Miragliotta.

When I felt it land, it just felt so clean. Right on his chin,”
said Mein, who has now finished 19 opponents inside of a round. “I
was trying to aim for his throat, nice and low. When I saw him fall
I could really see how hurt he was, and I could see how close the
ref was -- that it was close to being over -- so I didn’t
stop.”

Leites Wins Seventh Straight, KOs Carmont

The middleweight clash between Thales
Leites and Francis
Carmont began in predictably slow fashion. Leites changed
things in a hurry 20 seconds into round two, scoring a surprising
knockout of the massive Tristar Gym product.

“This is the new Thales,” said the former title challenger, who is
now 4-0 in the UFC since returning to the promotion in August 2013.
It was just the fourth victory via knockout or technical knockout
of Leites’ pro career.

Neither fighter got much going in the opening frame, as Leites
struggled to land takedowns from the clinch and Carmont (22-10,
6-3) offered little outside of a few hard low kicks. Round two
brought a stunning contrast, as Leites (24-4, 9-3) backed Carmont
up toward the cage and found the mark with a big overhand right. A
right uppercut-left hook combination soon followed, sending Carmont
down in a heap. Leites needed to fire off only a few follow-up
punches before referee John McCarthy intervened.

Holloway Punishes Short-Notice Foe Collard

Max
Holloway emptied his figurative toolbox against gritty fill-in
Clay
Collard, doling out a diverse array of punishing attacks en
route to a third-round stoppage. A brutal barrage of
ground-and-pound brought an end to the 149-pound catch-weight bout
at the 3:47 mark of the round.

Collard, who replaced the injured Mirsad
Bektic on short notice, never stopped moving forward.
Unfortunately for him, it was Holloway (10-3, 6-3 UFC) who had the
advantage in technique, movement and conditioning. The 22-year-old
Hawaiian landed a multi-faceted arsenal that included punching
combinations, knees, and spinning-back kicks.

For a while, Collard (13-5, 0-1) appeared to be unfazed. As time
progressed, however, the Pit Elevated Fight Team member became
increasingly reliant on telegraphed takedown attempts. On the last
of those, Holloway achieved back mount and flattened his man out.
Collard’s attempts to escape only resulted in Holloway landing a
series of nasty elbows from full mount. With nowhere to go,
“Cassius” surrendered his back again, and Holloway mercifully put
an end to the affair with one final ground-and-pound salvo.

Vick Outduels Lazaro in Sloppy Slugfest

In his first action in more than a year, James Vick
got the better of Valmir
Lazaro in a wild lightweight brawl. “The Ultimate Fighter 15”
cast member landed frequently and more emphatically to capture a
unanimous verdict (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) over his Nova Uniao-trained
foe.

Both combatants engaged in a back-and-forth firefight in the first
round. The action was sloppy at times, but Vick (6-0, 2-0 UFC)
gradually began to assert himself over the course of the fight. He
wobbled the Brazilian twice with right hands in the second stanza
and continued to tag him in the final period. A head-kick knockdown
punctuated the victory for the Team Lloyd Irvin
representative.

“I felt very rusty. I was in the greatest shape of my life, and I
felt so tired after the first round,” Vick said. “Honestly, I just
felt like I didn’t have the gas tank to put him away. I saw his
knees buckle three or four times when I hit him. I was trying so
hard.”

Skelly Submits Niinimaki For First UFC Triumph

Team Takedown’s Chas Skelly
submitted Tom
Niinimaki with a rear-naked choke 2:35 into the first round of
their featherweight clash. It was the seventh career submission
triumph for Skelly, who dropped a majority decision to Mirsad
Bektic in his promotional debut.

Skelly (12-1, 1-1 UFC) landed a double-leg takedown early and
quickly jumped on the Finnish fighter’s back as the two combatants
stood. Upon freeing himself, Niinimaki (21-7, 1-2 UFC) pulled guard
for a guillotine choke. That didn’t last long, as the Texan escaped
and returned to his foe’s back. Shortly thereafter, Skelly was able
to elicit the tapout.

“My first fight I didn’t press the action like I normally do,”
Skelly said. “I’m the type of guy I’m going to be in your face the
whole time, so if you sign to fight me, just know you’re signing up
for a fight.”

Garcia (13-1, 2-1 UFC) lacked his usual explosive output, with a
pair of slams -- one each in rounds two and three -- making up his
most significant offense of the fight. The Tristar gym export
appeared to tweak his knee early in the second stanza, perhaps
limiting his options.

Magny (12-3, 5-2) was at his best in the opening period, as he
forced “The Dominican Nightmare” to grapple and wrestle for the
majority of the frame. Rounds two and three were not as definitive,
but Garcia’s inability to mount offense when he did achieve
positional control may have led to his demise -- especially with
Magny able to remain busy with moderate strikes throughout. The
defeat brought an end to Garcia’s six-fight winning streak.

Hobar Grinds Down Phillips

Matt
Hobar barely gave Aaron
Phillips room to breathe. The Legacy Fighting Championship
veteran utilized takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound to
earn a grinding unanimous verdict over the Louisianan. All three
cageside judges scored the bantamweight contest 29-28 in favor of
Hobar.

Hobar (9-2, 1-1 UFC) landed multiple takedowns in each round,
rarely allowing separation. When the two combatants did stand, the
Texan responded by pressing Phillips (5-2, 0-2 UFC) against the
fence, landing a hard standing elbow that cut his opponent above
his left eye in the second. Phillips’ best moments came in round
one, when he landed punches, elbows and upkicks from his back.
However, Hobar’s relentless pressure gradually wore Phillips down
and took the steam out of his attacks.

Dariush Chokes Out Martin

Beniel
Dariush rallied to submit Tony Martin
with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of a lightweight
clash. The Kings MMA product landed a takedown before quickly
transitioning to the choke to earn the tapout 3:38 into the
period.

“I go to the half guard and he tried to guillotine me. As soon as
he tried to guillotine me, I thought to myself, ‘arm-triangle,’ and
that’s pretty much what happened,” Dariush said.

Martin (8-2, 0-2 UFC) set the tone early, attacking with punching
combinations and hard leg kicks while bloodying his opponent in an
energetic first round. The aggressive approach took its toll on the
American Top Team member, however, and Dariush (8-1, 2-1 UFC) swung
the momentum in his favor with some good work in close quarters on
the tiring Martin in round two. Martin expended what was left of
his gas tank on an errant takedown, allowing Dariush to capitalize
for the finish moments later.

Saunders Taps Heatherly in Octagon Return

After a four-year absence, Ben
Saunders made a successful return to the Octagon, submitting
debutante Chris
Heatherly inside of a round. “Killa B” locked in the
rarely-utilized omaplata to secure the tapout 2:18 into the opening
frame of the welterweight clash.

Heatherly (8-2, 0-1 UFC) wasted little time in getting the fight to
the floor, landing a takedown within the first 20 seconds. He would
eventually regret that decision. Saunders (17-6, 5-3 UFC) initially
attempted to frame a triangle choke, landing elbows to the head of
his adversary in the process. When Heatherly slipped out, Saunders
transitioned to an omaplata on his foe’s left arm, gradually
cranking the maneuver until Heatherly was forced to surrender.

“Basically the plan is to make people hopefully not want to stand
with me,” Saunders said. “If you take me down I’m gonna me you
dread there too. I’m gonna try to be dangerous all around.”

Reis Wears Down Sanchez in Flyweight Debut

Wilson
Reis utilized constant pressure, takedowns and back control to
take a unanimous verdict over newcomer Joby
Sanchez in the evening’s opening bout. All three cageside
judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Reis, giving the Brazilian
a victory in his flyweight debut.

Sanchez (6-1, 0-1 UFC), who took the fight on 19 days notice, had a
chance to finish the bout in round two. He dropped Reis (18-5, 2-1
UFC) with a left hook early in the frame and floored him again with
a head kick shortly thereafter. However, the Jackson-Wink MMA
prospect was unable to capitalize, and Reis recovered to take
control with a steady diet of takedowns in the final frame. While
Sanchez fended off a number of rear-naked choke attempts, he was
unable to mount any more offense down the stretch.